Bharti calls for restraint to prevent ground water depletion

Terming as "serious" the depletion of ground water level in the country, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti today made a strong pitch for exercising restraint while exploiting it and suggested launching of a mass movement to raise awareness about the issue.
Addressing a meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry here, she attributed the sharp decline in ground water level and deterioration of its quality in major parts of the country to its "large scale unmindful exploitation".
She informed the panel that the pre-monsoon (March/April/May 2016) water level data when compared with decadal average of 2006-2015 indicated that more than 50 per cent of wells surveyed had registered decline in ground water level.

The decline has mostly been in the range of 0-2 m in states/UTs except for Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.
Certain pockets of states/UTs which have observed a decline of more than 4 m are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal.
She listed increasing demand of ground water for agriculture, industrial and drinking purposes; change in cropping pattern and growing of water-guzzling paddy and cash crops and scanty rainfall in arid and semi-arid regions as factors responsible for depleting levels.

"Large scale ground water extraction during droughts when all other sources shrink and rapid pace of urbanisation resulting in reduced natural recharge to aquifers are responsible for the rapid depletion," she told the Committee.

The Minister observed that development of ground water resources in different areas had not been uniform.
She said "highly intensive" development of ground water in certain areas of the country had resulted in over-exploitation and led to decline in levels.
As per the latest assessment of ground water resources carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and the states as on 2011, total annual replenishable ground water resources of the country have been estimated as 433 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM).
"The focus on developmental activities needs to be
balanced by management mechanisms to achieve sustainable utilisation of ground water resources. There is need for scientific planning in development of ground water to evolve effective management practices," she said.

Bharti opined that one of the key management initiatives to arrest the depletion of ground water resources was to recharge it artificially.
She said her Ministry had circulated a model bill to all states/UTs to enable them to enact suitable legislation for development of ground water including provision of rain water harvesting.
So far, 15 states/UTs have adopted and implemented ground water legislation on the lines of the bill, she said.
Bharti said CGWB had also prepared a conceptual document entitled 'Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water in India' involving ground water scientists/experts and circulated it to states.

The plan envisages construction of 1.11 crore rain water harvesting and artificial recharge structures in the country at an estimated cost of Rs 79,178 crore to harness 85 BCM of water.
She said Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) had issued directives to Chief Secretaries of all states and administrators of all UTs to take measures to promote or adopt artificial recharge of ground water/rain water harvesting.
Thirty states/UTs have made roof-top rain water harvesting mandatory by enacting laws or by formulating rules and regulations or by including provisions in building bye-laws or through suitable government orders.
The minister said CGWA has so far notified 162 critical/overexploited areas in parts of NCT Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, UTs of Puducherry and Diu for regulation of development of resources.

For enforcement of the regulatory measures in these areas, concerned deputy commissioners/district magistrates have been directed under section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to regulate ground water development in these notified areas.